Halloween story by Methos
by MarbleGlove
Summary: MacLoed challenges Methos to tell a scary story. OneShot


[G It's Halloween and Methos tells a scary story

Disclaimer: This is a Highlander fanfic. I own none of these characters. I'm also not sure whether I own the idea behind the story. Years ago I read a fanfic that gave me this idea, but now I can't remember how close the idea was and I can't re-find that specific fic. So if I have stolen this idea, I apologize and if anyone sends me any links to other stories that have this idea, I'll acknowledge them here.

AN: I have to take a moment here to thank **blackleather** who asked for my permission to translate this story into Russian and then post it. I, of course, said, "yes" and thought "how incredibly cool is that?" It is now translated and posted athttp://highlander(dot)kachkanar(dot)ru/library/b(underscore)halloween(dot)htm so go check it out and "ooh" and "ah". Because, really, how incredibly cool is that? I wish I knew Russian. For those of you who don't know Russian either, it's also sort of fun to see how the online translators deal with translating it back into English. It's impressive to see what they translate back pretty much perfectly and it's really funny to see what they mess up.

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Halloween Story By Methos

by MarbleGlove

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"Why don't you contribute a story, Methos?"

All eyes turned expectantly toward the eldest immortal. Duncan had invited Richie, Joe and Methos over to his loft to enjoy Halloween with company and some ghost stories. So far everyone had told at least one story except for Methos.

"No, no. I wouldn't want to scare you children." Methos' eyes crinkled as he smirked and popped some more candycorns into his mouth.

This was an obvious taunt and Duncan tried manfully to stop himself from taking up the challenge, but couldn't keep himself from responding with, "Ha. You're not going to scare me."

Even Richie, who was more inclined to ignore Methos than react to his taunts, winced at this. Joe went so far as to announce loudly that he was scareable and thus Methos should be kind to his sensibilities.

Methos smiled like a cat with cream and began to speak in a manner that implied that this was planned out. "Ah. A story that can terrify immortals but not be _too_ bad for mortals. I have just the one." He sat up and repositioned himself so that he could look each member of his audience in the eye.

"Now this is a legend and legends are generally told for three reasons. They can explain, they can moralize or they can be a true retelling. Most legends are some combination of all three and I imagine this is no different. The moral is: If you are offered the power to rule the world, there is always a catch."

Here Methos paused and looked at each member of his audience. After these last words he had their complete attention as they all remembered the theory of what the Prize was for which three of the four people present fought.

"Once upon a time, there was an immortal evil. A demon, if you like. It terrorized all the world and was immensely powerful. And it was truly immortal. It had the power to rule the world and it used it. Darkness covered the land and the people cowered in fear. And this enemy could not die.

"However, a group of people realized that, while this demon was unkillable, it could be injured. And so they worked together to devise a plan which they finally implemented. They killed the body the demon had taken residence in and took its soul and all it's power and they split it into hundreds or even thousands of pieces. And to keep the pieces from rejoining and the demon from coming back to consciousness, they put each piece of him into a different person.

"And thus the demon was defeated.

"But the demon could not be destroyed and even in its shattered state it had power. So whenever one piece met another piece, they were always aware of each other and cried out to be rejoined.

"And the pieces of the demon's soul called to their hosts: There can be only one!"

Methos leaned back into the sofa cushions and started humming a Christmas carol as he waited for his silent, white-faced audience to come to themselves.

Dawson was the first to speak. "The watchers have never heard that legend. If Horton had heard it, he would have used it."

"That would have been dumb. The legend says the demon is indestructible and immortals are keeping it from reforming."

Duncan swallowed, "is it true?" Mac wondered if he had real reason to fear given how many other Immortals he had killed and taken the quickening of.

Methos looked at him patronizingly, "maybe you shouldn't listen to all these scary stories. They've turned your sensibilities."

"So it's not true?"

"It's a _legend_. Who knows if it's true or not? I must know hundreds of legends about the reason for immortals. I doubt I could confirm or deny any of them. Don't let this one bother you unduly. So whose turn is it next?"


End file.
